I WON, I WON!

I periodically enter for blog candy when I run across a post offering some but I never win....until now. Back on Aug. 3rd Cathy reached 30K hits on her blog, Crafty Thoughts, and offered some yummy candy. Well I posted my comment along with 46 others & I got picked! Here are the goodies I won & amazingly enough it is mostly stuff I do not have. That's a miracle for sure. Take a look at Cathy's blog....she does some awesome work. Thanks again Cathy!

Don't forget to Vote please!

Vote for Operation: MOM at Charity for Charities (one time per person, get your whole family to do this)

Vote for Waycross at GAC.com daily to get their song "19" in the Top 20 (IT NEEDS TO BE HEARD!!)

Thank you very much!!!!!!!!

MAN-BOY

I found this on the forums at VA Joe & asked the author if I could share it .....here it is with permission from Shelly.

"My son is presently stationed at twentynine Palms Ca. He has served one tour of duty in Iraq last year and is preparing to deploy again very soon. Just a couple weeks ago I was downtown and ran into some demonstrators on a street corner, exercising their right to free speech which my son (and others like him for all the years our nation has exsisted) has risked their lives to protect. I was appalled to hear much of the same old Viet Naam rhetoric being spewed over what they termed "Bush's War." After a lengthy discussion with them, I went home and penned this poem in support of all our brave soldiers. Hope it helps someone..."

Man-boy

He grew up bronzed and windblown, in the dry Dakota earth,
took great pride in his family and the country of his birth;
cut his teeth on a Red Rider at the age of eight or nine,
ran out of paper targets and shot the clothespins off the line.
Girls? Well, they came in second next to stalking wild game,
his taxidermied behemoth hangs upon his wall of fame.
He had trouble passing English getting by with D’s and C’s
Graduated goal in mind the Few, the Proud, Marines!
Few it seemed, understood his goal; some thought him quite insane,
but 9/ll left him dreamin of “taggin’" Bin Laden in the brain.
He came on out of boot camp top marksman of his platoon,
was sure his time to claim his fame was coming very soon.
He’s an All-American man-boy and he serves his country proud,
loves his family deeply, seeks to serve his risen God.
He’s an All-American man-boy and he serves his country proud,
Honor, courage, commitment, Semper Fi and a big Oo-rah

Now he’s fighting in a different war, one you say just should not be,
fighting for a land not his, to keep her people free;
free from genocide dished out by madmen quite insane,
he’s heard her children crying, and he’s felt their bitter pain.
Still, you stand there shouting slogans, which we’ve all heard before,
while holding up your picket signs denouncing “Bush’s war" ;
complaining ‘bout tax dollars spent to “support the war machine"
as young men fall in desert sand, vests threadbare and lean.
I can tell you that my fear for him, each day that he is gone,
is mirrored by my fear for him when he at last comes home
to see you standing on the corner of his home town street
and with your home made picket sign you wave at him and greet
this All-American man-boy who has served his country proud,
who has loved his family deeply, sought to serve his risen God.
This All-American man-boy who has served this country proud
with honor, courage, commitment, Semper Fi and a big OO-rah!

I remember once not long ago when a war in another land
found our people on street corners, picket signs in hand,
screaming vile slogans, at our man-boys as they returned
greeting them in catchy phrases, "baby killer" and “murderer" .
Has it really been so long ago? Don’t we remember what we learned,
when our young men bruised and battered from Vietnam returned;
to find their country, shouting insults, waving signs and hurling spittle
Shame on us! Oh shame on us for having learned so very little!
I don’t discount your right to voice the opinion of your heart,
but I think before you speak those words, before your marching starts,
you should choose your vocab wisely, consider those now serving there
to avoid once more those past mistakes and then offer up a prayer,
for the All-American man-boys as they serve their country proud,
and for the families that love them, please, beseech Almighty God,to give safe passage for our man-boys as another’s land they trodin honor, courage, and commitment, Semper Fi and a big OO-RAH!

21 YEARS HAVE NOW PASSED......

Well the birthday has come & gone. We got back Saturday from the picnic & stayed to visit with the Balsley's. About 9:15 PM PDT my cell rang. I knew it was him & that it was after midnight in his neck of the woods. I answered to hear him singing "Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, I'm all alone you evil woman, Happy Birthday to me". Seems I was an evil woman because I didn't call him at the stroke of midnight EDT.....Sheesh. So I held out my cell & the 4 of us sang to him. He was in his barracks.....his battle was in town so he was feeling neglected. To top it off they didn't do mail call on Saturday so none of the cards were delivered to him.

When we got home he we found that he had left a message on our answering machine pretty much the same as the call....except he left off the evil woman part. I tried to call him back but got his voice mail so I tried to sing to him again only I broke up at the end. He called later & told Steve to tell me when I sing "Happy Birthday" not to cry at the end. What can I say? I am a sappy mother.

I called him earlier & he tells me he is at mail call........."I've got 4000 cards here MOM" (I think he was exaggerating on this part tho) He put the gal on the phone from the mail room & I hear "He has lots of mail ma'am". I started to think he was angry with me but NOPE. He tells me he will call back in a while. When he got back to his barracks he called.....he started opening all the mail. He was so impressed.....and Happy. Thanks to everyone who helped me out with this. Even his Battles were impressed. He promised to take a picture & send to me but I have heard that before....not holding my breath here folks as I haven't gotten a picture of him since he first got there & I got a photo of an ice sculpture at Easter. But if I get it I will post it here....I promise.

Blue Star Mom's/Operation Mom Picnic

Fun was had by all who attended this first ever event. It was put on by San Francisco East Bay Blue Star Moms , San Francisco South Bay Blue Star Moms , Pacifica Military Moms & Operation Mom & held at Ed Levin County Park in Milpitas. It was a smaller group than all had hoped but we had alot of fun.....good food.... & we all got to meet some very nice people. Different groups but we all have a common goal...to SUPPORT OUR TROOPS & each other while our sons/daughters/husbands/wives/sisters/ brothers etc. Serve Our Country. Here are some photo's I took of the day.

Here is a photo of all who made it to the end of the day.

These are our Gold Star Families......

And this was an uninvited guest......a rattlesnake who 2 of the little ones found. This along with all those yellow jackets was the only bad thing of the day. Can't wait to do this again next year!

Peace Through Puppets

Soldier Takes Hands-On Approach To War, With Mom's Help
Puppets help to ease anxiety for Iraqi kids
By Steve Vogel , The Washington Post
Published on 8/12/2007

Washington — The reaction was immediate when Army 1st Sgt. Bruce Reges strode into the classroom in the Baghdad suburb of Baqubah, in the volatile Diyala province.

At 6-foot-5 and wearing full body armor, Reges, 57, looked fearsome to the schoolchildren. Outside, two Stryker armored vehicles blocked the street. A heavily armed security detail was checking out the roof and other classrooms.

Reges is assigned to an Army civil affairs unit out of Fort Bragg, N.C., working to reconstruct and support schools, irrigation projects and honey farms in Diyala. The team was visiting the school in May to assess what could be done to help, but the young students were terrified. (Read More)

SOME NEWS FROM THE PAST FEW DAYS

I haven't been very diligent in posting of late but hopefully things will calm down a bit as I need to get my house in order being I've been on the run so much these past weeks. It "litter"ally looks like a Scrap/Stamp store collided with a Hallmark & there were no survivors. I'm hoping to have some company soon so need to make some space.....more about this later. Anyway for now I am going to give you some links to some news I found here & there that I think are of interest & should be shared.


Soldiers help Iraqi boy get surgery

Trends encouraging in Baghdad hotspots

Iraqi Police, Paratroopers help neighborhood clean up its act

Services Meet or Exceed July Recruiting Goals

BadAss Marine I found this guy on BlackFive.....you definitely must watch this Marine.

'Get It Done' This is an article about Gen. Petraeus written by Peggy Noonan (former speech writer for Pres. Ronald Reagan) for Opinion Journal of Wall Street Journal. This man will be all over the news soon so get to know him now.

All Due Respect to Military Spouses... (Some Soldiers Mom)

Don't forget to Vote!

Vote for Operation: MOM at Charity for Charities

Vote for Waycross at GAC.com to get their song "19" in the Top 20 (IT NEEDS TO BE HEARD!!)

Thank you very much!!!!!!!!

TGIF!!

Hello there! We have come to the end of another week. Two days until "The Communicator" becomes totally 'legal'. Interesting part of it all is that I received an invitation from the hospital that he was born at for a reunion for all teh Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) graduates next month. WOW....where did the time go? (insert sniffles here) He is supposed to have finally taken a new photo so I will have it enlarged & then enlarge a premmie photo & make a sign up like in a parade to take with....that will show those new parents they do grow up & all will be well. Should be fun.

I spent all day with Diane yesterday & I finally got the Norton Anti-Virus out of her computer completely....I did the happy dance for sure. All is up & running wonderfully. Did some more lessons & she is being a great student.......takes notes & everything. LOL! Steve came out after work & we headed out for dance lessons. Definately lots of fun & a good workout. Gonna keep this up for sure. We got home about 10:30 or so last nite....a long day. This is Diane in first pix & Me in the second.

Today is catch up day & I have to play Betty Crocker too. We have a joint picnic tomorrow with Blue Star Mom's & we need to bring desserts. It's cupcakes for me. Will take lots of pictures to share. Have a great weekend everyone as I'm not sure how much I will be here.

Middle of the week update

Hi there......just got home from a Blue Star Mom meeting with Bev. Was a nice evening & met some very nice ladies again this month. Diane didn't go with us this time as she was off seeing Tim and Faith!! We will be having a joint picnic with Blue Star Mom's groups this Saturday....should be alot of fun.

"The Communicator" will be 21 in 4 days.....I sent him his card that I made but I still wanted to get a funny 21 card too. Went into Hallmark at the mall ....we checked out some of the musical ones but nothing hit me. I then headed back to the YEAR cards. Well as soon as I saw that 21 the tears started flowing. Salesgirl came up & asked if she could help me........I asked her if she could bring my son home while I was crying. Poor thing.....she won't be asking anyone if they need help for awhile. I want to say thanks to all who have sent him cards. I know he will appreciate it alot.

The girlfriend left today.......she was having problems with the classes & decided that maybe this was not the Military Occupational Specialty (MOS)for her so she had herself reclassified & is now going off to become a mortician. From Network Communications to Mortuary.......??? Anyway, he was pretty bummed & she emailed me yesterday to say she was going to miss him. Maybe they will take some time to get to know each other better? NAH....he's already talking about a few new ones. I keep telling everyone........short attention span. Still not sure what is going on with him but he thinks they will be moving him to another company & he may end up being permanent party there.

Will be off tomorrow.....gotta go see if we can rid Diane's computer of Norton Anti-Virus again. Wonder how long I will be on the phone this time. Then tomorrow nite we are gonna start dance lessons. It's been over a year since we publicly humiliated ourselves so it's time. Will try to get photo's for ya'll to laugh at. Have a good Thursday!

Sparks Fly: Lt. Colonel Buzz Patterson v. Captain Jon Soltz

Fireworks Erupt: Buzz Patterson Spanks Anti-War Activist

On Wednesday's "Hardball with Chris Matthews," Move America Forward Vice Chairman, Lt. Col. Buzz Patterson (USAF, Ret.), took anti-war activist Jon Soltz to task. Soltz was in the news recently when at the "Yearly Kos" convention he silenced a U.S. Army soldier who supports the missions of our troops. Soltz has repeatedly worked to undermine the missions of U.S. Troops serving in Iraq, and is active in the MoveOn.org affiliated group, Americans Against Escalation in Iraq.

Watch this great video, where Lt. Col. Patterson gave a much-deserved verbal spanking to Jon Soltz:

ANOTHER SOLDIER HEARD FROM!

Debbi

Thank you for the most beautiful cards I have seen! I really like them. Makes me not want to send them out and just keep them all for myself. It put a smile on my face, ear to ear.

Thank you soooo much. I hope you have a great day!

Pfc Mxxx

Here is a video of this same soldier who is waking up her "Battle Buddy" in their 'tin can'......I do have permission to share with you all.

I LOVE THIS JUDGE!!!

Judge Orders Michigan Man to Scrub Veterans Memorial With Toothbrush
Wednesday, August 08, 2007

A Michigan man scrubbed a monument to U.S. troops with a toothbrush Tuesday while wearing a T-shirt that read "I Stole From Veterans" as part of a punishment for a scam to solicit scrap yards for metal, the Saginaw News reports.

A judge ordered Philip Kolinski, 73, of Carrollton Township, Mich., to wash the veterans monument outside the Saginaw County Governmental Center after he was found guilty of soliciting metal donations for a sculpture dedicated to Iraq War veterans that was never built, the Saginaw News said.

Instead of using the metal for a monument, he sold it and kept the money, the paper reports.
Click here to read the Saginaw News report.

Saginaw County District Judge A.T. Frank also ordered Kolinski to to pay $9,000 in restitution and $2,095 in fees and fines.

A second man, James M. Arnst, 45, is awaiting trial for his alleged role in the scam.

Today's Good News

Citizens oust terrorists from mosque, help uncover weapons cache
Tuesday, 07 August 2007

BAGHDAD — Fed up with violent and indiscriminate terror tactics, a group of more than 80 residents of the Adhamiyah district, on the east side of the Iraqi capital, banded together Sunday to oust suspected terrorists from a local mosque.

The uprising led to a string of events over the next 12 hours that ultimately resulted in the arrest of 44 suspected terrorists and the capture of three weapons caches.

The initial takeover of the Abu Hanifa Mosque occurred at about 2 p.m., apparently triggered by news that terrorists had murdered two relatives of a prominent local sheik.
(Read more)

Col. Simcock talks of progess being made...

CHARITY FOR CHARITIES

Charity for Charities Voting has Begun! VAJoe Will Donate $2,000 to the Winners Vote for your favorite military charity in the VAJoe Charity for Charities event. VAJoe will donate $2,000 to the charities with the most votes. Vote August 5–20 . Encourage friends to vote. Continue to nominate charities for the event. Here are a few recently nominated charities:

9-11 HelpAmerica Foundation
American Military Family
America's Wounded Heroes
Independence Fund
Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans
Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation
Operation Give
Operation Helmet
Operation Mom
Paralyzed Veterans of America
Retired Enlisted Association

Help VAJoe help your favorite military charity. Vote and ask your friends to vote.

Thanks,

Debbi

PS....please vote for Operation MOM!!!

ALSO CHECK OUT THEIR FORUMS....and you get a Free TShirt for 12 posts.

2Peas Challenge for Tuesday

2Peas Challenge~ Are you the kind of person who would rather use 35mm film or do you prefer digital prints? I personally love to use my digital because it's easy to take with me wherever I go plus I can take as many photo's as I want & then print what I want. It is my day to day camera. When we want to take special photo's my husband pulls out his 35mm .......this way we can take those special photo's plus make enlargements of them as needed.

In case you hadn't noticed.....Winkflash is having their 6 cent sale on 4 x6 Prints. Use code JC53YR73 as many times as you like......no limits but details may change at any time. Hope you can use it.

TRUCK SHOW & WAYCROSS CONCERT

Yesterday fun was had by all.....A few of us from Operation Mom headed out to Fremont to The Saddle Rack for a Truck Show & Free Concert. Diane had entered a truck which was painted in honor of her son Travis who was KIA in Iraq 3 years ago & her son Tyler entered his motorcycle which is also in honor of Travis. She won best paint! Congrats Diane. Here are some photo's of the truck & bike....

She had this shirt (below) made in honor of the day (actually the Waycross concert) .....

There were alot of very kewl trucks......mostly new BIG ones. Here's an assortment of what we saw tho there were lots more.

They a few cars showed up.....of course I had to take some pictures of this beautiful Mustang

Here's a Charger & a Plymouth (I think that's what Steve told me it was).....correct me if I am wrong please.......

This car arrived in the back of one of the trucks.....it's small

As I was roaming around (I was trying to see how many Support The Troops magnets I could find.....sadly not many) when a sticker in the back window caught my eye. It was an "In Memory of" one.......I went & got Diane to see if she recognized the name. When we returned the owner of the truck was back. Turns out he was a Marine who has fulfilled his contract & the "In Memory of" sticker was someone who was in his unit when he was in Iraq. He then showed us the names of the fallen from his unit that he had tattoo'd on his arm.....

Turns out his mother had been in Operation Mom (world gets smaller every day) during his time in the service but they moved so it was harder for her to continue to come. We then took him back to Diane's truck so he could get some photo's & we took pix of his daughter on Tyler's bike....what a cutie.

Towards the end of the show Ted & Ben from Waycross arrived & we got to meet them outside. Took a few photo's of them with Diane's truck & with all of us......they are the sweetest guys. That Southern Hospitality showing thru big time. Ben is from Augusta which is where 'The Communicator' is right now......I showed him his picture & said "if you see him roaming around town & he has a cig in his mouth......take it out & tell him his mother said to stop smoking!" He assured me he would.

(L-R, Steve, Ted, Ben, Debbi, Kathy & Ken)

We then headed inside to get a table & wait for the music to start.

The first band up was called "Whiskey Dawn"

The next band up was "Northern Comfort"........we all bought CD's.

Finally we got the hear "Waycross"! The other bands were very good but we did come to see Ted & Ben sing "19" after all. Well they didn't disappoint us as they sang it as the first song of the night. We were all in tears of course....it's so moving. They continued on with more & ended the show with "19" and dedicated it to Diane........We got some autographed pictures, took more photo's & Ted & Ben autographed Diane's shirt. It really was an awesome day......I recommend you see them if they come to your neck of the woods for sure.

Ted Moxley Ben Stennis

(L-R, Debbi, Ben, Dotty, Ted, Diane & Nancy)

A great time was had by all.......make sure you check out all the MySpace pages that I have linked to & please vote at GAC for Waycross to get "19" on the top 20 (you don't have to register I don't' think.

And if you haven't heard the song "19" or seen the video.......HERE IT IS!

Waycross - 19 - video powered by Metacafe